Low Conversion Rates Are Rarely About Design

Dec 05, 2018

Here is something most founders do not want to hear….our low conversion rate has nothing to do with the design of our pages. We want to think it is just the layout is wrong. Or the button color is off….why? Those are easy fixes (and there is no shortage of options to test).

But chances are, your customers are not really turned off by your lack of design skill (or just the wrong design).

The two biggest reasons you have a poor conversion rate:

Traffic Quality

There is no such thing as bad press and usually, there is no such thing as bad traffic. But, when you want to improve your conversion rate and really understand if your product message resonates with customers, traffic quality matters. Founders love to see their pages listed on the home page of sites like Hacker News. However, unless your product targets other would be founders/hackers, this is not quality traffic.

No Incentive

People are inherently selfish. They need to know upfront what is in it for them. I see way too many pages were with a CTA that looks like this:

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You need to clearly explain what you will get in return for signing up…even if you are just collecting an email address for a later date (every sign up is a transaction). Answer the question….what do I get in return?